Milk fat blending apparatus



Dec. 15, 1953 v, sCHwARzKoPF 2,662,751

MILK FAT BLENDING APPARATUS Original Filed Oct. 22, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet l vgraaannqrnannaa-.-

Dec. l5, 1953 v, scHwARzKoPF 2,662,751

MILK FAT BLENDING APPARATUS Original Filed Oct. 22, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mill!" Sli Patented Dec. 15, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFF! CE 2,662,751 ylnltliifnr BLENDING APPARATUS Vergil'Schwarzkop La Grange, Ill., assigner to y The Lathrop-Panlsonr Company; Chicago, Ill., a--corporationloflllnois Continuation of .application Serial No. 56,005,012-

.tober y2.51., 1948. This application September 13, 1951, Serial'No. 246,476

This invention relates to milk `fat blendingffapparatus vandA is particularly `useful in' lconnection with a' dumpcanequippedw'it-h a strainer-and a weigh lcan into which ther dump 4can empties. The present application lis a continuation Aof my co-pending application, Serialv No; I565005, tiled October 22, 1948; for Milk Fat Blending Apparatus, now abandoned;

It is the present practice to dump milk lfrom conveyor linesinto' a dump can -or hopper, having in its bottom or front portion a mesh strainer or :sieve through which vthe `milk escapes into the weigh4 can. 'Thexmilk which has` remained'l in the containers for Asome time priorto dumping tends .to crear-nor layer foi lso that there-is a cream layer orcream line thecan verysimilar'to the cream layer or.' line vin a milkbottle. When a can is dumped into the dump hopper, the cream is dumped'irst, followed Eby low testing vor skim milkfrom'the' bottomfof'the can.k Because-ofthis separation vori:segregation` of the fat ini-the milk, it .becomes Lnecessary'to :thoroughly Amix or blend the .milk the'weigh;` caninforder Sto get a representative 'sample .for butter fat test'. Even though the. milk V'falls 'into'lthe :dump icanor hop- .per withwconsiderable yelocitmzthestrainer breaks :up the body :of the into a large lnumber of :small-.streams which tall intotheweighcan without stirring or substantially .moving the body of the milk within ytheweigh can. .Asa result'o'f this fpractice .it is found that' inet-butterv lfat vin Jthevmilk. is somewhat 'segregated and: isi'ound'in ,greater :quantity in Ione area .ofr ithezbody .orf .milk within' the Weighca-n than inxanother area. As a result, inv taking samplesfof the milk in order to `deternriine the amount to 'bepaidthe .milk producer, nonrepresentative samples are obtained andthe producer is paid too much. or toolittlef-as a resultof the .nonrepresentative sample; There .are further disadvantages resulting from-the lack of blending of the butterfat uniformly within'the milk body. Y

An object of the present invention is to provide means of extremely low cost which can be readily installed in ya weigh can and which' converts then'e-milk streamsiromfthe `strainer into a heavy liquid body that is channeled into the milk stream to produce aneiective stirring of 'the milk and a blending of the butterfat uniformly therewith. A still urther object is to provide in such a structure means for converging the collected liquid into :a heavybody for discharging into the milk stream while at the same time utilizing a portion of the dropping -milk for stirring the shallowest part of vthe milk body. Asstill fur- .ther object is to provide Aremovable apparatus which may be installed with Weigh can equipment 2. nowin use for utilizing the strained milk in a' stirring or. blending action While at the same time eilecting a uniform blending of the butterfat with the milk through an elongated container or Weigh can. Other specific objects and advantages will appear as the specification proceeds.

The invention is illustrated, in preferred embodiments. by 'the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure l' is a side viewin elevation of apparatus embodying my' invention; Fig. 2, a broken top Aplan View; Fig. 3, Aa broken enlargedsectional'detail viewshowing the blending. plate or tray-suspended upon the Weigh can.; Fig. 4', ar broken -front view in elevation ofV the structure vshown in Fig. 3; Fig. 5, a broken ltop view-in elevation of a modified'form of blending plate or `tra-y embodying my' invention; Fig. 6, a broken'ver'tioal sectional view` of the structure Lshown in Fig. `5; and Fig. 7, a broken front view in elevation of the-structure shownl inFig. 6.

In the illustration given-in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, lll-designates a 'dump can having its bottom provided With a strainer and supportedwithin the weigh can Il. The weigh can II- is provided with al rear casing wall I2 and 4forwardly from the Wall at a spaced distance is a transverse 'bar or strut I3. Since the weigh 4can and dump can are of well-'known construction, afurtherldetailed 4description is believed unnecessary; The dump can II is provided withthe-ustmilI valve opening in its bottom closed by the usual` valve, andv upon the yopening Aof the valve the m-ilkilows from thedump can into-areceiver' I 4.

Inthe structure adjacent the dump can and weigh can, rthere is illustrated in Figsil :and .2 a frame I5-equipped with ar can rest I6 which assists in the dumping oiv the can. Over the-.dump `can extends a guide I-'I which leads laterally to the platform I 8 of a can-washing machine Ill. All ofY such structureis oldandfwell-known .and isset out herein merely to illustrate a normal operation ofthezdumpcan I0 an'dweghcan IfIf.

As already stated,r the dump can I0 is incitentive for stirring the .milk'within the rweigh'can because the .mass of openings-in the :strainer of the weigh can break the .force of the stream of milk, poured .into it so 'that themilk .that :Bows .from the dump can .is formedintora Amassof vertical smail 'streams' thatfall without stirringv gef-1- f'ect'fupon the. surface offizhefmi'lkv below. I V'have discovered that this mass ofrelatively small streams ycan .befregathered and concentrated into a heavy torrent 4wliicnnw'hen discharged'intothe milk: body, stirs it from :the bottom to the: Atop thereof and produces an automatic blending-of the butterfat withwthemilk. It-is apparentythat 3 this result can be achieved through various types of structures.

In the structure illustrated best in Figs. 1, 3 and 4, a blending plate or tray 20 is equipped at its rear with a hook strap 2l adapted to extend over and engage the rear wall l2 of the weigh can Il. A U-shaped strap member 22 having hooks at its ends is extended over the cross strut I3 of the weigh can and serves to support the tray 20 at an inclination, as illustrated best in Fig. 3. If desired, the strap may be omitted and the plate supported upon the weigh can by other means.

I prefer to collect the discharged milk streams in a single heavy stream for discharge into the milk body and to provide the member 2i) with inwardly and downwardly tapering sides 23. Thus, the collected milk is converged into a heavy stream near the center of the weigh can and is discharged in a heavy body into the body of milk below to effect the desired blending of the milk fat with the milk.

In the cleaning operations, the tray 2:3 can be lifted out of its position together with the suspension strap 22 and these parts may be separately washed along with the dump can.

In the modication illustrated in Figs. to "l, inclusive, the structure is the same as illustrated in Figs. l to 4 except that the blender plate or tray 2l)a is provided near its top with a, rectangular slot 24. The slot 24 divides the falling stream into two bodies, the forward stream being collected in the tray a and discharged in a heavy stream from the forward end of the tray or blending plate. strainer directly through the rectangular slot 24 where it strikes the body of milk at the rear portion of the elongated weigh can il. The weigh can Il has a bottom wall 25 which inclines rearwardly and upwardly so that the shallowest part of the liquid body is usually near the rear portion of the weigh can. Thus, t .e rearmost portion of the milk is stirred by the portion of the milk stream leaving the strainer at the highest point thereof.

It will be understood that for some milk cans, it is desirable to omit the slot 24 altogether and to employ the structure as shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, which effectively blends the butterfat throughout the entire weigh can. For other structures, depending upon the size or elongation of the weigh can, it is desirable to use the rectangular slot 24 in the tray 29a as shown in 5 to '7, inclusive. It will be understood that various modifications may be made in the utilizing of the foregoing structures to give the desired blending eifect with respect to weigh cans of diiferent types and contours.

The side walls of the plate prevent the spreading out of the milk and, in the more specific illustration given, actually hem in the milk to form a narrow heavy stream. By providing the blender plate with parallel walls or walls that taper inwardly, the small streams of liquid which normally have little force are accumulated upon the blender plate into a heavy stream which falls from the lower end of the plate into the body of milk to produce a heavy churning action. The blender plate may be inclined toward either end of the tank, or, if desired, may be turned laterally. Since most weigh cans are oblong or rectangular in shape, a longitudinal pitch of the blender plate downwardly toward one end is preferable.

While in the foregoing specification, I have set The second stream falls from the forth specific illustrative structures in considerable detail for the purpose of illustrating an embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that such details of structure may be varied Widely by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. In combination with a strainer and a weigh can therebelow, the weigh can having its bottom wall inclined downwardly and forming, when iilled with liquid, a deep end and a relatively shallow end, a blender plate providing a tray below said strainer to collect the milk passing downwardly therethrough, said tray being supported in a downwardly inclined direction with the lower discharge end of the tray toward the deep end of said weigh can, said tray having side walls extending from the upper portion of the `tray to the lower portion in a non-diverging direction, said strainer being positioned above the upper end portion of said tray and said tray extendingbelow said strainer throughout the length thereof to receive all of the streams of milk falling from said strainer and collecting the same to discharge them in a heavy single stream into the body of milk at the deep end of said weigh can.

2. In combination with a strainer and a weigh can therebelow, a blender plate providing a tray below said strainer to collect the milk passing downwardly therethrough, said tray being supported in a downwardly inclined direction with the lower discharge end of the tray toward an end of said weigh can, said tray having side walls extending from the upper portion of the tray to the lower portion in a non-diverging direction, said strainer being positioned above the upper end portion of said tiay and said tray extending below said strainer throughout the length thereof to receive all of the streams of milk falling from said strainer and collecting the same to discharge them in a heavy single stream into the body of milk at said end of the weigh can.

3. In combination with a strainer and a weigh can therebelow, a blender plate providing a tray below said strainer to collect the milk passing downwardly therethrough, said tray being supported in a downwardly inclined direction with the lower discharge end of the tray toward an end of said weigh can, said tray having side walls extending in converging relation from the upper portion of the tray to the lower portion thereof, said strainer being positioned above the upper end portion of said tray and said tray extending below said strainer for receiving the streams of milk falling from said strainer and collecting the same to discharge them in a heavy single stream into the body of milk at said end of the weigh can.

VERGIL SCHWARZKOPF.

References Cited in the file 0f this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,900,359 Miller Mar. 7, 1933 2,082,819 Beccard June 8, 1937 2,240,103 Textor et al. Apr. 29, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 6,402 Great Britain Apr. 5, 1900 17,968 Great Britain Sept. 25, 1893 25,406 Great Britain Nov. 1, 1910 

